Attoparsec Ruler

But Why?

A parsec is 3.26 light years, or 3.086 x10^16 metres. Parsecs are used for measuring very large distances in space. For example, the nearest star to our solar system, apart from the Sun, is Proxima Centuri, about 1.3 pc away. Parsecs are big.

Atto is a metric prefix meaning 10^-18, like centi (10^-2), milli (10^-3), kilo (10^3), or others. One attometre is roughly 800 times smaller than the radius of a proton. “Atto” things are small.

An attoparsec is therefore 10^-18 x 3.086 x10^16 metres, which is 3.086 centimetres. This is surprisingly human-scale for a unit of two parts that are each incredibly not human-scale.

Printing

This ruler can measure 8 attoparsecs, or 24.69 centimetres. It fits on a standard Prusa or Ender size buildplate, when rotated a bit. Add a colour change on the last layers to make the text stand out more, or colour in the top surface with a Sharpie, or equivalent marker.